Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately create a revolving trust fund to aid in the financing of water pollution abatement projects, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 27A of chapter 21 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (b) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

(b) Any water pollution abatement project or part thereof shall be eligible for loan approval if included on the priority lists pursuant to the priority systems under section thirty A, thirty-three and the last paragraph of section twelve of chapter two hundred and eighty-six of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighty-two, for commonwealth fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-one or any later commonwealth fiscal year. The department, by regulation, may adopt such modifications to the priority systems and the priority lists for purposes of this section, including limitations on the amount of total financial assistance that a local governmental unit is authorized to receive in any fiscal year, as shall be consistent with the loan programs of the trust and necessary to comply with the requirements of law.

SECTION 2. Paragraph (e) of said section 27A of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence.

SECTION 3. Section 33E of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 14, the words "up to seventy-five" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- twenty-five.

SECTION 4. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2V the following section:-

Section 2W. There shall be established and setup on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Water Pollution Abatement Projects Administration Fund. There shall be credited to such fund any amounts transferred pursuant to section five of chapter twenty-nine C; and any income derived from the investment of amounts credited to said fund. Amounts credited to the Water Pollution Abatement Projects Administration Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, solely for the administration of the provisions of section twenty-seven A of chapter twenty-one.

SECTION 5. Section 1 of chapter 29C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "capital", in line 19, the following words:- , interest on loans, local governmental obligations and notes in anticipation thereof prior to and during construction of such project or prior to the date of such loan, if later.

SECTION 6. The definition of "Loan agreement" of said section 1 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "instrument", in line 66, the following words:- whether secured or unsecured.

SECTION 7. Paragraph (b) of section 2 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the second sentence the following sentence:- Each member of the board may appoint a designee pursuant to section six A of chapter thirty.

SECTION 8. Said paragraph (b) of said section 2 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "thirty A", in line 29, the following words:- ; provided, however, that the provisions of said chapter thirty A shall not apply to rules, regulations, procedures and guidelines adopted by the board pursuant to section seven.

SECTION 9. Section 5 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out clause (iii) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-

(iii) to transfer to the Water Pollution Abatement Projects Administration Fund amounts derived from proceeds of each federal capitalization grant award received by the trust to the full extent permitted by Title VI of the Clean Water Act.

SECTION 10. Clause (i) of section 6 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the word "interest" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- debt service.

SECTION 11. Said section 6 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "trust", in line 9, the following words:- ; provided, however, that no such subsidy or assistance shall exceed the equivalent of a grant of twenty-five percent of the eligible cost of the project financed by such loan.

SECTION 12. Said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after section 6 the following section:-

Section 6A. In addition to the purposes set forth in sections five and six, the board may apply and disburse monies of the fund to provide a subsidy or assistance to local governmental units in the payment of debt service costs on the loans made by the trust in excess of the equivalent of a grant of twenty-five percent of the eligible cost of the project financed by such loan if such additional subsidy or assistance is otherwise authorized by special law.

To provide for such subsidy or assistance, the state treasurer acting on behalf of the commonwealth shall enter into an agreement with the trust that the commonwealth shall provide contract assistance for debt service obligations of the trust up to a maximum amount of twenty million dollars per fiscal year of the commonwealth for a period of fiscal years ending no later than June thirtieth, two thousand and twenty-five. Such contract assistance agreement shall provide for the payment by the commonwealth of the portion authorized by special law of the debt service obligations of the trust at such time during each fiscal year and upon such terms and under such conditions as the trust may stipulate.

The trust may pledge such agreement and the rights of the trust to receive amounts thereunder as security for the payment of debt obligations issued by the trust.

SECTION 13. Section 8 of said chapter 29C, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following three sentences:- Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, in the discretion of the state treasurer, with the approval of the governor, payments to the trust of amounts authorized pursuant to the issuance of bonds by the commonwealth, as provided in this section may be met by the deposit in the fund of bonds of the commonwealth which are so authorized to meet such appropriation. Bonds so deposited may be assigned and pledged as security for bonds of the trust and may mature or be redeemable on such dates and in such amounts, may bear interest at such rate or rates or be deposited in the fund at such discount or premium, may bear such limitations on negotiation or resale by the trust, and may bear such other terms and conditions, as the state treasurer shall determine to be in the best interests of the commonwealth; provided, however, that the effective yield on such bonds shall not exceed the greater of the effective yield on the bonds of the trust which they secure and the effective yield on comparable bonds not so deposited in the fund, as determined by the state treasurer after consultation with the secretary of the executive office for administration and finance. For purposes of section forty-nine of chapter twenty-nine, the net proceeds of bonds deposited in the fund as instrument the principal amount of which increases during the life of the instrument shall be deemed to be the present value of the amount payable thereon at maturity discounted to the date of deposit at the yield on such bonds.

SECTION 14. Paragraph (a) of section 9 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the eighth sentence.

SECTION 15. Paragraph (a) of section 10 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- Any local governmental unit may apply to the trust for a loan to assist in financing the cost of a water pollution abatement project. At the option of the trust, loans may be unsecured or may be secured by local governmental obligations for delivery to the trust to evidence the loan.

SECTION 16. Section 15 of chapter 275 of the acts of 1989 is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (a).

SECTION 17. Said section 15 of said chapter 275 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "(b) On" and inserting in place thereof the word:- On.

SECTION 18. Paragraph (a) of section 16 of said chapter 275 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the word "seventy-five" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- eighty-two.

SECTION 19. Said section 16 of said chapter 275 is hereby further amended by striking out paragraph (b) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

(b) The state treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to transfer to the Water Pollution Abatement Projects Administration Fund established pursuant to section two W of chapter twenty-nine the sum of twenty-five million dollars.

SECTION 20. Paragraph (c) of said section 16 of said chapter 275 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the words "seven hundred million" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- fifteen million three hundred thousand.

SECTION 21. Sections eighteen and nineteen of said chapter two hundred and seventy-five are hereby repealed.

SECTION 22. Paragraph (d) of section 20 of said chapter 275 is hereby further amended by striking out the fourth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Any financial assistance provided by the trust under authority of this section shall bear such terms and conditions approved by the department, including, without limitation, such terms relative to the interest payable thereon as will result in total financial assistance provided to the applicable local governmental unit equivalent to a grant of no less than twenty-five percent of the eligible costs of planning the water treatment project and no less than twenty-five percent, but not more than fifty percent, of the eligible costs of constructing such project, including costs of constructing associated transmission systems.

SECTION 23. Section 21 of said chapter 275 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the words ", eighteen, nineteen and twenty".

SECTION 24. Said section 21 of said chapter 275 is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 5 and 6, the words "one billion four hundred and thirty million" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- one hundred twenty-two million three hundred thousand.

SECTION 25. Section twenty-four of said chapter two hundred and seventy-five is hereby repealed.

SECTION 26. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the water pollution abatement trust established under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine C of the General Laws is hereby authorized and directed to make loans and grants to local governmental units for projects on the federal fiscal year nineteen hundred and eighty-eight construction grants priority list that received a federal grant in that fiscal year but did not receive a state grant, such that the total financial assistance provided to the applicable local governmental unit, together with such federal grant, is the financial equivalent of a grant of ninety percent of the eligible costs thereof as determined by the department of environmental protection; and said trust shall make loans and grants to local governmental units for other projects on the fundable portion of the federal construction grants priority lists for federal fiscal years nineteen hundred and eighty-eight and nineteen hundred and eighty-nine such that the total financial assistance provided to such local governmental unit is the financial equivalent of a grant of seventy-five percent of the eligible costs thereof as determined by the department; and said trust shall make loans and grants to local governmental units for construction projects to abatement facilities on the fundable portion of the department's construction grant priority list for fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-one such that the total financial assistance provided to such local governmental unit is the financial equivalent of a grant of forty-five percent of the eligible cost thereof as determined by the department; and said trust shall make loans and grants to local governmental units for abatement facilities and combined sewer overflow projects which were on the fundable portion of the department's construction grants priority list for fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-one such that the total financial assistance provided to such local governmental unit is the financial equivalent of a grant of thirty-five percent of the eligible costs thereof as determined by the department; and said trust shall make loans and grants to local governmental units for collection system projects which were on the fundable portion of the department's construction grants priority list for fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-one such that the total financial assistance provided to such local governmental unit is the financial equivalent of a grant of twenty-five percent of the eligible costs thereof as determined by the department.

The commonwealth shall provide contract assistance to said trust pursuant to section six A of said chapter twenty-nine C and shall appropriate to said trust, in each fiscal year of the commonwealth as provided in said section six A, the cost to the trust of making any grant or loan, pursuant to this section, which is in excess of a financial equivalent of a grant of twenty-five percent of eligible costs.

SECTION 27. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the water pollution abatement trust established under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine C of the General Laws shall make loans and grants to the city of New Bedford for construction projects to abatement facilities on the department's priority list for fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-one and which projects received a project approval certificate from the department prior to July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-one such that the total financial assistance provided to said city is the financial equivalent of a grant of sixty-five percent of the eligible costs thereof as determined by the department.

The commonwealth shall provide contract assistance to said trust pursuant to section six A of said chapter twenty-nine C and shall appropriate to said trust, in each fiscal year of the commonwealth as provided in said section six A, the cost to the trust of making any grant or loan, pursuant to this section, which is in excess of a financial equivalent of a grant of twenty-five percent of eligible costs.